The Cold War

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The Cold War
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Origins of the Cold War

• The cold war began with mistrust between the
  Soviet Union (red) and the western democracies
  (blue).

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Soviet Distrust of the West

• The Soviet Union felt it had good cause to
  distrust the west. 

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1. Western Opposition to Bolsheviks

• In 1919, Russias former World War I allies
  (Britain, France and the United States) joined
  the "White Russians" to fight off the Bolsheviks
  following the revolution. 

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2. The Result USSR Suspicious of West

• This intervention failed and the Red Army of the
  Bolsheviks secured the power of the new Soviet
  state. The young USSR government never quite
  trusted the western democracies after that.

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3. Disregard for Soviet Diplomatic Goals

• The western democracies did not invite the Soviet
  Union to participate in the World War I peace
  talks or the League of Nations.

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4. West Did Not Aid in Spanish Civil War

• The west did not aid the Republicans fighting the
  fascists in the Spanish Civil War.

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5. USSR Not Invited to Munich Conference

• The west did not invite the Soviets to the Munich
  Conference which decided the fate of
  Czechoslovakia in the years leading up to World
  War II, even though the Soviet Union had a
  security pact with Czechoslovakia.

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Western Distrust of the Soviets

• The west, for its part, never trusted the Soviet
  Union.

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1. Fear of Socialism

• The avowed purpose of the International Communist
  Party was to secure world wide communist
  revolution. There was a great fear of socialism
  in Europe and America.

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2. Soviet Annexation of Eastern Poland

• The Soviets negotiated an agreement with Hitler
  and annexed eastern Poland.

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3. Soviet Designs on Eastern Europe

• By the end of the war Britain and the United
  States distrusted the Soviet motives in eastern
  Europe.

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Uneasy Alliance During World War II

• This mutual distrust was suppressed during World
  War II when for practical reasons (the common
  enemy of Hitler's Germany) the western allies and
  the Soviet Union became uneasy allies. 

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Western Delay in Opening 2nd Front

• Stalin believed that the western allies were
  dragging their feet in opening up the "second
  front" in Europe, so necessary to take the
  pressure off the struggling Soviet forces in the
  east.

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Soviet Desire for Friendly Govts

• Stalin was open about wanting "friendly
  governments" in Eastern Europe to protect his
  country's western frontier from another invasion
  like the invasion so recently experienced by
  Germany.
• All of this was in the air when Stalin, Churchill
  and Roosevelt met at the end of World War II.

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Decisions at Yalta

• The physical structure of the cold war was put
  into place at the end of World War II.
• Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and
  Joseph Stalin agreed in February of 1945 at Yalta
  to divide Germany into four occupation zones.

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Soviet Influence in Eastern Europe

• It was agreed that the Soviet Union would have
  the greatest influence in eastern Europe, where
  Soviet troops were concentrated.
• They already occupied Poland, Bulgaria, Romania,
  Hungary and parts of Czechoslovakia and
  Yugoslavia, and it would have been difficult to
  come to an agreement which involved removing
  these troops.
• Roosevelt agreed because he had little choice.

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Governments Friendly to Soviets

• Finally, it was agreed that independent
  governments would be established in these lands,
  and that elections would be free, but the
  governments would be "friendly to the Soviet
  Union."
• This is the beginning of what Winston Churchill
  would later call the "Iron Curtain" which divided
  Europe for 45 years.

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Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at Yalta
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Strained Relations at Potsdam

• When the allies met again at Potsdam in July of
  1945, relations were more strained.
• Roosevelt had been replaced by Truman, who was
  not inclined to humor Stalin once he found out
  that there had been a successful test of the
  atomic bomb.
• America no longer desperately needed Soviet help
  in the war against Japan.
• America had halted aid to the Soviet Union
  because of concerns over Russian behavior in the
  East.

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Truman and Stalin at Potsdam
22
Soviet Consolidation of Power

• Between 1945-1948 the Soviets under Stalin
  consolidated their power in Eastern Europe.
• Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania,
  Bulgaria, Hungary became part of the "Soviet
  Bloc" or "satellite system."
• Within the communist parties of these countries
  there were purges to remove national communists -
  one in four were removed.

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Yugoslavia Remained Independent

• Yugoslavia under Tito was an exception to Soviet
  control. It practiced "national communism" and
  was able to remain independent largely due to
  western economic aid.

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The Iron Curtain

• As early as 1946, Winston Churchill saw what was
  happening. An Iron Curtain has descended upon
  Europe

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Origins of the Truman Doctrine

• In 1947 The United States responded to what
  appeared to be a clear Soviet attempt to spread
  communism into Eastern Europe. It declared the
  Truman Doctrine aimed at stopping the further
  spread of communism.

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Provisions of the Truman Doctrine

• "I believe that it must be the policy of the
  United States to support free peoples who are
  resisting attempted subjugation by armed
  minorities or by outside pressures.
• I believe that we must assist free peoples to
  work out their own destinies in their own way.
• I believe that our help should be primarily
  through economic and financial aid which is
  essential to economic stability and orderly
  political processes."

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The Marshall Plan

• The announcement of The Truman Doctrine and The
  Marshall Plan (providing economic aid to European
  countries, both east and west) by the United
  States in 1947 caused Stalin further doubt about
  the Western Allies' intentions. It was in this
  atmosphere that the Berlin crisis arose.

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Berlin

• Berlin was located completely within the eastern
  side of Germany which was occupied by the
  Russians.

Berlin
Germany
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Unification of Western Zones

• Britain and the United States unified the western
  zones of Berlin in 1948, and announced a new
  currency there.

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Berlin Blockade

• Stalin responded on June 24 by attempting to
  force the western allies out of Berlin
  altogether.
• He cut off rail and road access to the western
  side of the city.

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Berlin Airlift

• Between June 1948 and May 1949, the Western
  Allies mounted a massive airlift to keep the
  western sectors supplied. This broke the
  blockade. On may 12, 1949 Stalin lifted the
  blockade and the Cold War was underway.

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Two Armed Camps

• In May 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany was
  created.
• In September the Soviet-supported Republic of
  Germany was established in the East.
• The establishment of NATO and The Warsaw Pact
  (military organization) in the same year gave
  teeth to this formal division. Europe was now two
  armed camps.

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Soviet Development of Atomic Bomb

• The Soviets were not far behind the US in
  developing the atomic bomb and accomplished it in
  1949

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The Arms Race

• Once the Soviet Union successfully tested the
  atomic bomb, the arms race was on.
• MAD (mutually assured destruction) was designed
  to keep both sides from "pushing the button," by
  giving both sides equality in "kill power."

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American backyard fallout shelter 1960
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The Cuban Missile Crisis

• In 1962, Fidel Castro of Cuba gave permission to
  the Soviet Union to build missile bases in Cuba.

Fidel Castro and Nikita Khruschev
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U-2 Reconnaissance Flights

• The United States U-2 reconaissance flights
  photographed the sites under construction.

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Soviet tanks in Havana meant a Communist presence
in the western hemisphere
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The Response A Blockade of Cuba

• President Kennedy's advisers were divided on the
  best course of action. Many wanted an air strike
  to take out the missiles others wanted a
  blockade. Kennedy decided on the blockade and US
  ships surrounded the island, refusing to allow
  Soviet ships bringing supplies to get through.

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Brinkmanship The World on the Brink of War

• The world held its breath as the Soviet ships
  approached the blockade. Many feared that this
  was "it," the long awaited and much feared
  nuclear war.

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Missiles Were Removed from Cuba

• After a series of telegrams between Khruschev and
  Kennedy and a secret promise to remove American
  missiles in Turkey offered by Robert Kennedy, war
  was avoided, and the missiles were removed from
  Cuba.

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The Berlin Wall

• In 1961 East Germany built a wall to separate
  East Berlin from West Berlin, isolating West
  Berlin within East Germany. This wall which
  divided east and west became the symbol of the
  tensions dividing the world during the cold war.

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Ich bin ein Berliner

• John F. Kennedy went to Berlin on June 26, 1963,
  to show support for the West Berliners. He told
  them All free men, wherever they may live, are
  citizens of Berlin and, therefore, as a free man,
  I take pride in the words Ich bin ein Berliner.

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Kennedy's notes from the speech (Kennedy Library)
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Reagans Brandenburg Gate Speech

• Twenty-four years later, President Ronald Reagan
  spoke about the wall "In the Communist world, we
  see failure, technological backwardness,
  declining standards... Even today, the Soviet
  Union cannot feed itself. The inescapable
  conclusion is that freedom is the victor. General
  Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you
  seek prosperity for the Soviet Union, if you seek
  liberalization Come here to this gate! Mr.
  Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear
  down this wall!"

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President Reagan giving a speech at the Berlin
Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Federal Republic of
Germany. June 12, 1987
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The Wall Came Down

• Not long afterward, a surprise to nearly
  everyone, the wall came down. On the 9th of
  November, 1989, East Germany was open to West
  Germany. Events moved swiftly. Communism rapidly
  fell in Eastern Europe, and finally in the Soviet
  Union.

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Race to the Moon

• The successful launch of Sputnik in 1957 by the
  Soviet Union began an all out race to get to into
  space.

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The First Man in Space

• The Soviets succeeded in getting the first man
  into space, Yuri Gregarin.

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The First Moon Landing

• Eventually the United States achieved the first
  moon landing in 1969. 

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The Internet

• One of the surprising results of the American
  panic over falling behind technologically after
  the launch of Sputnik was the development of the
  Internet.